Simulated binoculars with a projecting device



Sept. 6, 1966 v, PETRUSEK 3,270,735

SIMULATED BINOCULARS WITH A PROJECTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 6, 1964 2 51r3ets-Sheet 1 I Mr 65 90 i 64 61117: 1 4 T V l V '60 63 I III 63 lNVEN r012 6 5 4 h :5; 32 z'czm l zww 75 38 |l||1 @jg/W 3 Sept. 6, 1966 v. PETRUSEK 3,270,735

SIMULATED BINOCULARS WITH A PROJECTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 90 36 .33- 6/ H j f nk m y 64 J ZWI" 6/ v if; I 44 f 40 INVENTOR 98 5a 46 42 W M A TTORNEYS.

3,270,735 SIMULATED BINOQULARS WITH A PROJECTING DEVICE Victor Petrusek, 14611 Halsted St, Harvey, Ill. Filed Aug. 6, 1964, set. No. 387,662. 3 Claims. (Cl. 124-26) This invention relates generally to toy guns and more particularly, to a novel binocular style toy gun.

Toy guns which propel a dart or shaft missile have been provided heretofore in many different forms, but insofar as I am aware, the combination of a gun with a binocular type housing providing the sighting mechanism and supporting the barrel of the gun is entirely novel. Various reasons for this can be advanced, such as, the relatively complicated and expensive structure of binoculars, or field glasses, the manner in which such binoculars require adjustment of the sighting tubes so that such a telescopic device does not appear to be suitable for combination with a gun, the contemplated difficulty of sighting or aiming with such an optical device when held at the level of the eyes, the difficulty of providing a gun'barrel in combination with such a field glass or binoculars and trigger means for shooting the gun, as well as other reasons which can occur to the person versed in the ballistic art such as normally to discourage development of such a device.

Consequently, one of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a binocular-type or style of gun of the character described which can be made and used successfully as a toy device especially by children.

Another primary object of the invention is to provide such a toy gun which is simple and easy for chlidren to aim and shoot, which is effective and accurate to a degree intended to maintain the childs interest for a long period of time; which can be challenging to the individual child either used privately or in competition with other children and which can be made economically and simply, yet without moving sighting tubes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy gun of the character described which has a novel trigger mechanism for cooking and releasing the missile propelled by the gun.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy gun of the character described having novel sighting means for aiming the gun while held at eye-level against the forehead of the child user.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a toy gun of the character described which is economical to manufacture and assemble so as to be capable of cornmercially attractive pricing as a toy and which is sturdy and durable.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparent from ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and the illustration thereof in the accompanying drawings. Minor variations in size, arrangement, construction and proportion of the several parts may occur to the skilled artisan without departing from the scope or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the binocular type or style toy gun embodying the invention being aimed or sighted preparatory to being discharged.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of said toy gun with portions broken away to show details.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of said toy gun.

FIG. 4 is a median sectional view taken through the toy gun along the line 44 of FIG. 2 and in the direction indicated generally.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and in the direction indicated generally.

United States Patent 0 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the trigger mechanism in a depressed position and the gun discharged.

Refering now to the drawings, in FIG. 1, the reference character 20 designates generally the toy gun embodying the invention. Said gun 20 has a binocular-styled housing 22 which can be made from plastic or metal by relatively economical forming, molding and assembling techniques. The housing 22 is a hollow, box-like member of binocular configuration having a top wall 24, a bottom wall 26, connected together along opposite side edges by the curved side walls 2 8. The rear or sighting end of the housing 22 is formed by a generally curved or V- shaped rear wall 32 secured between the top wall 24 and bottom wall 26. The side Walls 28 may have integral extensions or wings 33 which protrude beyond the rear wall 32 and at an angle relative thereto. Thus, the rear end of the housing 22 has a generally concave configuration designed to conform to the general convex curvature of the forehead F of a user so as to permit said binocular housing 22 to be engaged against the forehead over-lying the eyes, as seen in FIG. 1, in a position for aiming the gun.

The rear wall 32 has a pair of spaced apart windows 34, one in each leg portion 3 6 of the V-shaped wall. T-hese windows are sufli'ciently large and spaced apart a suitable distance one from the other for sighting therethrough, one window for each eye of the user.

At the front end of the housing 22, the top and bottom walls 24 and 26 respectively are connected by a front wall 38 having a pair of large windows 40 formed therein each aligned with a window 34. The windows 449 each mount a glass plate 41, said windows being separated by the bridging wall portion 42 and notably, the windows 40 are larger than windows 34. Also, the side walls 28 have curved wings 43 at their opposite ends which project beyond the front wall 38. Each window 40 has a medial dot 44 painted, etched or otherwise provided thereon for :a purpose to be described subsequently herein.

As thus far described, the housing 22 may be characterized as a binocular-type or style of housing providing a pair of sighting or viewing tubes by means of the windows 34 and 40 aligned in pairs, said tubes joined together side by side and fixed one relative to the other. A window 40 with its glass plate 41 can be likened to the objective lens of a binocular sighting tube, although there is no magnification involved. In the same context, a window 34 may be likened to an eyepiece lens, but again, without magnification being involved.

The gun mechanism is formed as a part of the housing 22. Said mechanism includes a cylindrical barrel formation 44 supported from the outside surface of the bridging wall portion 42. in closer proximity to the top wall 24. The barrel 44 projects forwardly perpendicular to said front wall 38 with the muzzle or loading end designated 45. The mounting of the barrel 44 may be accomplished in many ways different from the specific embodiment illustrated which utilizes suitable braces and rigidifying struts 46 integrally formed with the barrel 44 and perhaps front wall 38. The inner end 48 of the barrel is open by virtue of the hole 50 in bridging portion 42 against which the barrel abuts.

The cross-sectional configuration and dimension as well as the axial length of the barrel 44 are selected to accommodate a missile shaft or dart 52 having a suction cup 54 at the forward end thereof. The opposite end of said shaft or dart 52 is gradually tapered convergently at 56 and terminates in an enlarged grip or button formation 58 for a purpose which will be explained. Y

Aligned with the barrel 44 and substantially coaxia therewith is an open-ended cylindrical chamber 60. The

a chamber 66 is provided in a thickened wall formation 61 arranged perpendicularly between the top and bottom walls 24 and 26 respectively and attached thereto in alignment with the barrel 44. The formation 61 is located medially between the side walls 2% and said chamber 60 is formed therein. The inner end 62 of said chamber is closed off by the rear wall 32 against which the wall formation 61 is secured also. The opposite open end of the chamber 60 is spaced from the front wall 33. Received in the chamber 60 is an elongated coil spring 63, the inner end 64 of the spring being seated against wall 32 and retained in place by means of the upstanding lug 65 passed between a pair of adjacent convolutions of the spring. As will be explained, the spring 63 provides the power means for propelling the dart 52.

The trigger means 70 of the binocular gun comprises a generally T-shaped member having an L-shaped crosshead formation 72 and a depending narrow plate 74 extending into the space 75 between the end 64 of sleeve 60 and the front wall 38. The plate 74 is seen in FIG. as slidably accommodated between a pair of guide walls '78 upstanding from the bottom wall 26 connected by the transverse wall 79. The bottom end 8t) of the plate 74 is engaged upon a curved leaf spring 82 which maintains the trigger 70 in a normally elevated position. That is, the end 8%) spaced above the bottom wall 26, as seen in FIG. 5.

The cross-head 72 of the trigger means 70 includes a vertical wall 83, horizontally disposed wall 84 having a depending flange 86 at its free end. The top wall 24 has a well 87 into which wall 84 fits to fill the space or cavity with the flange 86 abutting the back wall 88 of said Well. The length of the flange 86 is less than the depth of the well or cavity 37. The floor 89 of the well terminates short of the front wall 38 to provide the space 75 needed to accommodate wall 74. Thus, the trigger member 72 is capable of movement along a path normal to the axis of the barrel 44. Formed in said plate 74 is an oval-shaped opening 90 which is designed to cooperate with the en larged portion 58 to latch the missile 52 under a normally spring bias condition for being propelled when the trigger is released. The opening 90 is aligned with chamber 60 and openings 50 and 90 so as to permit the spring to extend from chamber 60 into barrel 44, as seen in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 2, the binocular gun is loaded by inserting the enlarged end 58 into the barrel 44 into engagement with spring end 92 in the barrel and moving same rearwardly until the spring 63 is compressed into chamber 60 and the enlarged end 58 passes through the opening 56 and engages behind the plate 74 which is normally biased upwardly by the spring 82. The rounded button end 58 facilitates its passage through opening 90. The plate 74 then is biased upwardly by spring 82 to latch the enlarged portion or button 58 behind the opening 90, as seen in FIG. 4. In this condition, the binocular gun 22 is cocked and ready for shooting.

To shoot the gun 20, it is placed against the forehead overlying the eyes as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 1. Sighting is done by focusing the eyes on the dots 44. By the phenomena of parallax the dots 44 merge into one as the viewer continues to stare at them through the eyepiece end of the binocular gun. When the dots merge into a single dotted view, the user can aim the dot at the intended target. To shoot the gun 20, the wall 83 is depressed by the user so as to release the enlarged portion 58 from behind the wall 74 and permit the spring in the sleeve 66 to pass through the opening 91]) and propel the missile out of the barrel 44. The downward movement of the trigger is permitted by reason of the length of the flange 88 as compared to the well 87 and the spacing of end 80 from the wall 26.

It may be noted that the vertical member 83 is situated to protrude above the top wall 24 of the binocular casing 22 so that the fingers of the viewer can be pressed on the wall 83 while the binocular gun 20 is held against the forehead of the user for sighting. Further, referring to FIG. 3, a scale sight 94 may be provided on the glass plate 41 to assist in aiming. This calibrated scale is not absolutely required.

Depending from the bottom wall 26 of the binocular housing 22 is a pair of spaced apart reserve chambers 98 of elongate tubular formation into which spare missiles 100 can be stored.

Although not specifically shown, the toy binocular gun 20 is capable of being formed of easily fabricated plastic parts. The assembly is possible by forming the casing 22 of a pair of mating parts as represented by juncture line 162 in the various views and the front and rear walls can be inserted and secured in place between them. It is not deemed necessary to elaborate upon this manner of construction and assembly.

It is believed that the invention has been described in sufiicient detail to enable the skilled artisan to understand and practice the same. The invention has been pointed out in the claims appended hereto in language intended to be broadly and liberally construed commensurate with the progress in the arts and sciences attributed thereby.

What it is desired to secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A binocular type toy gun of the character described comprising, a binocular type housing having a pair of sighting tubes fixed one relative to the other and arranged side by side, a gun barrel projecting forwardly of said housing intermediate said sighting tubes, and means on the interior of said housing for cooperating with said barrel to place a shaft-type missile inserted into said barrel under spring tension, and trigger means for releasably latching said missile in said housing under tension so that upon release of said trigger, the missile is propelled forwardly out of said barrel, each sighting tube including means at the front end of the housing each of which carry a medial sighting dot whereby sighting through the eyepiece ends of the tubes will result in merging of said dots into a single dot visible to the viewer for aiming.

2. A toy gun of binocular-style configuration comprising, a plastic housing having a pair of fixed sighting tube formations arranged side by side, each tube having an eyepiece end and an objective lens end, a gun barrel rigid on the housing and projecting forwardly from between said objective lens ends, said barrel having an inner end opening into said housing, for receiving the inner end of a shaft therein from said barrel, a shaft having an enlarged inner end, spring means carried in said housing aligned with said barrel and adapted to be compressed by said inner end of the shaft for cocking the gun, and trigger means operable from exterior of the housing, for releasably latching the shaft in the barrel with said spring means compressed, said trigger means movable to release the shaft whereupon the potential energy of the compressed spring can propel the shaft from the barrel, each of said objective lens ends having like aiming means for target sighting through the eyepiece ends of the tubes by merging of said aiming means into a single such means visible to the viewer for aiming.

3. A toy gun as described in claim 2 in which said aiming means comprise aiming dots for target sighting through the eyepiece ends of the tubes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,359,383 10/1944 Pitts 72395.2 2,710,487 6/1955 Scott 46-179 X 3,009,452 11/1961 Barber et a1. 124--27 3,035,564 5/1962 Hellman 124-26 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

W. R. BROWN, Assistant Examiner. 

2. A TOY GUN OF BINOCULAR-STYLE CONFIGURATION COMPRISING, A PLASTIC HOUSING HAVING A PAIR OF FIXED SIGHTING TUBE FORMATIONS ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE, EACH TUBE HAVING AN EYEPIECE END AND AN OBJECTIVE LENS END, A GUN BARREL RIGID ON THE HOUSING AND PROJECTING FORWARDLY FROM BETWEEN SAID OBJECTIVE LENS END, SAID BARREL HAVING AN INNER END OPENING INTO SAID HOUSING, FOR RECEIVING THE INNER END OF A SHAFT THEREIN FROM SAID BARREL, A SHAFT HAVING AN ENLARGED INNER END, SPRING MEANS CARRIED IN SAID HOUSING ALIGNED WITH SAID BARREL AND ADAPTED TO BE COMPRESSED BY SAID INNER END OF THE SHAFT FOR COOKING THE GUN, AND TRIGGER MEANS OPERABLE FROM EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSING, FOR RELEASABLY LATCHING THE SHAFT IN THE BARREL WITH SAID SPRING MEANS COMPRESSED, SAID TRIGGER MEANS MOVABLE TO RELEASE THE SHAFT WHEREUPON THE POTENTIAL ENERGY OF THE COMPRESSED SPRING CAN PROPEL THE SHAFT FROM THE BARREL, EACH OF SAID OBJECTIVE LENS ENDS HAVING LIKE AIMING MEANS FOR TARGET SIGHTING THROUGH THE EYEPIECE ENDS OF THE TUBES BY MERGING OF SAID AIMING MEANS INTO A SINGLE SUCH MEANS VISIBLE TO THE VIEWER FOR AIMING. 